


Escafil

by fearowkenya



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Animorphs AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4560603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearowkenya/pseuds/fearowkenya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuugi and his friends are ordinary high-schoolers, until one fateful summer day they learn of an impending alien invasion and are tasked with saving the world. Their only weapon is the power to morph: to change into any animal that they touch. Animorphs AU. (No knowledge of animorphs is required to read this fic.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Invasion: YUUGI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally dreamed about this AU and it made perfect sense and when i woke up i was like "how" so then i planned an entire fic. help. 
> 
> chapters for this fic will all be in first person, with the narrator switching every chapter. this fic is an AU: yugioh characters + animorphs situation, but no animorphs characters (other than species of aliens, like andalite, yeerk, hork-bajir, etc). 
> 
> events of ygo didn't happen (no duelist kingdom, no battle city, etc) but certain aspects still exist (duel monsters card game, millennium items, kaiba corporation). oh yeah, no prior knowledge of animorphs is needed to read this fic. if you've read the series, cool! if not, that's okay. this doesn't follow animorphs canon to the letter but does borrow a lot of elements from it. anyway, i hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Trigger Warnings: suicide mention

My name is Yuugi. I can't tell you anything else about myself. I mean it. If I did, I would be taking a risk that could get us all killed. My friends and me, I mean. It sounds silly, but we're this planet's only hope right now. I can't afford to put us all in unnecessary danger.

I guess that's a lot of information to handle. Let's back up a bit. It's only been a few days since my life has changed forever, but now that I think about it, I suppose it all started about a year ago.

I was having a really,  _really_  rough day. I didn't sleep a wink all night, and school was terrible. I didn't pay attention in class. I didn't eat lunch, and I hadn't had breakfast either. One of my classmates, Anzu, had to drag me to the water fountain in the hallway to get something to drink. I didn't want to do anything. I wanted to stop existing.

You see, the day before, I learned that my best friend Ryou committed suicide. Jumped off a bridge. Gone. And I couldn't figure out why. He'd seemed fine when I'd seen him two days prior, I mean, I spent the whole afternoon at his house playing video games with him, and he was all laughs and smiles. Then the next day, he was dead. There had to have been something I'd missed. Something I'd overlooked. Something that I should have noticed, that could have clued me in on what he was about to do. But there was nothing. And I'd never see him again.

So there I was, shuffling home, totally heartbroken over my dead best friend. Anzu wanted to walk me back to my house and make sure I got home okay, but she had dance practice and a recital coming up, so she couldn't miss it. Maybe I should have waited for her, because I was so beside myself with sadness that I let my feet guide me without really thinking about where I was going.

You know where I ended up? At the bridge he threw himself off of. I don't know why I went there. Maybe part of me hoped that I'd go back in time or something and see him there and stop him. But of course that couldn't actually happen. So I just stood there and cried, I don't know for how long, staring out at the water and wondering why this had to happen to him. To me.

By the time I finally stopped crying, the sun was starting to set. I realized that if I was out for much longer, my grandpa would start to worry about me. So I tore my gaze away from the water and started to turn back the way I came, but before I could, something caught my eye.

Or, some _one_.

There was a man running at me, a grown man with blond hair poking out from under a bandanna, and blue eyes that were open so wide that his irises looked like pinpricks. His mouth was open and he was breathing heavily and I opened my mouth to scream but he crashed into me before I could even make a sound. I flew backwards, landing on my butt on the concrete. The heels of my palms were scratched and stinging after breaking my fall, but I ignored it and tried to scramble to my feet. The strange man lunged forward again, this time grabbing me by the shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut, braced myself for some kind of pain, a punch, a kick, whatever, but all he did was scream in my face.

"The yeerks are invading!" he hollered, voice raw and desperate and scared, "The yeerks are here, they're  _here_ , we have to stop them before they-aaaaAARRRGH-!"

And as suddenly as he'd grabbed me, the strange man let go, staggering away clutching his head. I was frozen in place, my heart pounding in my throat as I watched him fall to his knees, clawing at his face.

Another pair of hands came down on my shoulders, from behind this time. I jumped, turning my head to see a police officer.

"Don't worry, son," he said, "You're safe."

He gave me a smile that I think was supposed to be comforting, but it looked icy and grim. I looked away and watched as another police officer tackled the strange man to the ground, holding him down until he finally stopped moving. Was he dead? No, he couldn't be… right? I couldn't look away, but the police officer with me must've decided I'd seen enough, because he turned me around by the shoulders and looked into my eyes.

"Go home," he said firmly, "It's not safe here."

I nodded numbly and the police officer stepped aside. I ran. Ran and ran and ran and ran until I saw my house. I moved around to the back door that leads into the kitchen. Normally I take the front door, which is the entrance to the game shop that my grandpa runs, but I was too rattled for any kind of human interaction. I didn't want to have to explain why my eyes were red and puffy or why I was trembling. I just wanted to throw myself onto my bed and dive under the covers and try to forget that this day had ever happened. And that's exactly what I did.

* * *

 The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of my cell phone ringing. I cracked my eyes open and pawed around blindly for my phone before I realized that it was in my school uniform pocket. I'd never changed into my pajamas, I'd just collapsed onto my bed in my uniform and slept all the way through until morning. I flipped my phone open, pausing to notice that it was half past eleven.

"Hello?" I said. I winced at the sound of my voice. It was weak and kinda squeaky.

"Yuugi? Are you okay?" came the worried voice on the other line. Anzu. "I've been calling all morning, and last night, too."

I blinked and pulled my phone away from my face. In small writing across the top of the screen, I saw the words "six missed calls". I'd managed to sleep through my phone ringing  _six times_. I brought the phone back up to my ear. "I'm sorry, Anzu," I said, rubbing my eye with my free hand, "I was asleep."

"Since seven o'clock last night?" Anzu asked. She sighed, "You should leave your phone off silent. I was really worried about you."

"Um…" I bit my lip. "It, uh. It wasn't on silent."

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence. I know she wanted to ask if I was okay, but she and I both already knew how I would answer.

"So, um," Anzu started again. I could almost hear her nervously tapping her foot on the other line, "Um. I'm going to the beach with a few friends today. You wanna come?"

I hesitated. Honestly, I didn't really want to go  _anywhere_. On the other hand, if I fell into the habit of going nowhere and staying in my room all day, I'd never leave the house again. I'd been like that early on in middle school. Until I met Ryou.

No, I don't want to think about that, I told myself wearily, so instead I opened my mouth and said "sure".

It took me about half an hour to get ready. I didn't bother showering, since I was going to get covered in sand and salt water anyway. Anzu met me on the corner of my street and we set off together toward the train station.

The ride there was about as awkward as our phone call had been. We didn't talk much, and I caught Anzu looking at me several times out of the corner of my eye. When we finally got there, we met up with Anzu's friends. Most of them were from her dance class, but there were a couple from school as well. I recognized a guy called Katsuya, along with his friend Hiroto. They'd uh. Bullied me in middle school, but then I stood up to this even bigger bully when  _they_  were the ones getting picked on. They left me alone after that. Actually, I think they felt kind of bad about what they'd done, or that they owed me something, because I was never bullied again, by them or by anyone else.

Anyway, they said hi to me and I just kinda nodded at them. When they realized they weren't going to get a conversation out of me, they said "see ya later!" and ran off into the surf. I watched them splash around for a bit. It looked like fun, but I didn't really feel like swimming. Anzu was chatting with her other friends, sitting in a cluster with them on a few beach towels. They were laughing a whole lot and looked like they were having a great time, but I didn't want to be  _there_  either. So I got up and went for a walk.

I kept to the shoreline, right where the waves lapped against the sand. My eyes were trained on the ground, absently keeping an eye out for seashells. Olive shells, specifically. My mom liked those ones and was pretty happy whenever I brought one home.

After maybe half an hour, I saw something in the shallow water that looked like an olive shell, so I bent over to pick it up. When I lifted it out of the sand, I saw that yeah, it was an olive shell, but it was broken, just half a shell with the edges dulled by erosion.

Suddenly very angry for no real reason, I clenched the broken shell tightly in my fist, then stepped forward and hurled it as hard as I could into the ocean. I didn't even see it land. Letting out a frustrated, miserable sigh, I stepped out of the water, ready to resume my boring, depressing walk.

Of course, life had other plans for me, and I wound up stepping on something very sharp that dug into the bottom of my foot.

"Ouch!"

I hopped back, shaking my hurt foot a little. I looked down for whatever I'd stepped on and saw something glinting underneath a thin layer of sand. Frowning, I crouched down to get a closer look. There was definitely something shiny there. Shiny and gold. I pulled it out, wet sand getting stuck under my fingernails. I held the shiny thing under the water to clear away the rest of the sand, then stood up with it sitting in my palm.

I had no idea what it was. It was a flat piece of what looked like gold, a little less wide across than a tennis ball. It had a little eyeball design on the front, with nothing on the back. The edges were still sharp, as I'd just found out firsthand, unaffected by the erosion that wore down all the other things that ended up in the sea. It looked kind of like a puzzle piece. I glanced around in the sand, as though I expected to find the other pieces, then looked back at the one I held in my hand. It was eerie. A lone puzzle piece with an eyeball on it. Oh man, I thought, I've got to show Ryou, he loves this kind of–

Then I remembered. The eyeball design on the puzzle piece got blurry. My eyes started to sting. I rubbed them with the back of my hand, then glared down at the puzzle piece, clenching my teeth. I closed my fingers around it and prepared to do what I did with the olive shell.

<Don't!>

I stopped. I still had my arm up in the air. I looked around again, trying to find out where that voice was coming from. The closest other human being was some college-aged kid drinking a beer under a parasol a couple dozen feet away. Besides, I was pretty sure I didn't hear a voice. Not out loud, at least. It felt like it was coming from inside my head.

I lowered my arm, uncurling my fingers to look at the puzzle piece again. I don't know what came over me, but suddenly I felt like it was a good idea to hang onto it. I slipped it into my pocket and turned around, almost like I was on autopilot, and walked back to the area where Anzu and her friends were. They welcomed me back with a smile, and I sat between her and that Katsuya guy for the rest of the day.

I didn't tell any of them about the puzzle piece.

* * *

I ended up carrying the puzzle piece around with me everywhere. I felt almost guilty at the thought of just leaving it in my room to collect dust, so it came with me wherever I went. It was always in one of three places: my pocket, my hand, or my backpack. I couldn't go a day without taking it out and staring at it. I kept it on my desk while I ate lunch and slept with it under my pillow. After a while, I started wearing it as a necklace on a thin silver chain. In hindsight, I probably should have taken my weird obsession with it as a sign that I should get rid of it, but the truth of the matter is, I didn't even realize how attached to it I'd become until I started hearing it talking to me.

Yep, that's right. The weird puzzle piece started speaking to me.

Okay, no. It wasn't  _speaking_ , exactly, but I could hear what it was saying loud and clear, in my head, where no one else could. At first, it was only one-word statements, things I'd dismiss as my own thoughts. Like answers on my science homework, the numbers on price tags, the names of streets written on road signs. Little things like that. We didn't speak directly to one another for several months, until that fateful day where I was nearly hit by a bus.

I'd been slowly recovering from the shock and grief of Ryou's death. I was feeling much better. I'd grown closer with Anzu, and I was starting to befriend Katsuya and Hiroto as well. But none of it mattered on that day.

It was Ryou's birthday. I remembered the second I flipped my phone open that morning and saw the date in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Almost a year ago, we'd planned on pulling an all-nighter watching really corny old horror movies and playing scary video games to celebrate, but...

… Yeah. That wasn't going to happen. And I was pretty upset about it. I think Anzu knew something was up, but she didn't ask, which I was grateful for. I didn't really want to talk about it. On my way home, I dragged my feet on the sidewalk and stared down at my shoes. A poor decision, really, because you can't exactly see what's going on around you when you're looking at the ground.

I stepped off the curb and onto the road, paying absolutely no attention to the traffic lights ahead of me. I didn't even see the bus heading my way, I just heard the same voice I'd been hearing for months–under the assumption it was my own–cry out in fear.

<Look out!>

I jerked my head up just in time to see the bus careening toward me. I stumbled backwards, nearly losing my balance as the bus missed me by a hair's breadth. The horn blared, brakes screeching, and I backed up until I was safely back on the sidewalk. My hands were shaking. My heart was racing. I'd been so wound up about my dead best friend that I'd almost died myself.

<You fool, you could have died!>

Maybe it was because I was so shaken and disoriented, I don't really know, but in that moment, I had a thought that had never occurred to me before. What if that voice was not just me berating myself, but one that was totally separate from my own?

I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, because an old lady who had been standing on the street corner and seen the whole thing came over and started to fuss over me and scold me for nearly turning myself into a human pancake.

It wasn't until I was back home, alone in my room, that I revisited that thought. I sat on my bed, unclipped the chain from around my neck, and held the puzzle piece up to my face, staring at the eyeball embossed on the front.

"Hello?" I asked softly, "Can you hear me?"

No response. I tried again. Still nothing.

"Well, that was pointless," I muttered to myself, "Idiot boy almost gets run over by a bus, hears voices in his head, then talks to an inanimate chunk of gold. What a day."

I let myself fall backwards onto the mattress, dropping the puzzle piece onto my chest. I wished fervently for everything to go back to normal.

Unfortunately, what ended up happening was basically the exact opposite of that.

* * *

Remember how I said I could hear quiet murmurs in my head, short words and phrases that I thought were my own thoughts? Well, that stopped happening. And because it stopped happening, I knew for a fact that there was  _definitely_  something in the puzzle piece that was talking to me. Or I was crazy, plain and simple. I pointedly ignored the latter possibility and decided that it was the former.

Any other kid might've gotten rid of an eerie talking puzzle piece,  _especially_  after it got quiet all of a sudden, but I'd taken it as a personal challenge. I wanted to hear that voice again. I mean, it saved my life, so it must not  _hate_  me, right? Well, I didn't hate it either. I wanted to make friends with it.

Yeah. Make friends with a talking puzzle piece. And that's only the tip of the iceberg of weird things that have happened in my life.

I kept it on the chain around my neck and talked to it when I was alone. I never tried to get it to say something when I was with other people, though. First of all, my new friends would think I was nuts if I suddenly started talking to my necklace in front of them, and second, maybe it was shy. I know  _I'd_  be shy if I were a talking puzzle piece.

Despite my best efforts, it stayed quiet for almost a week, so when it  _did_  talk again, it caught me totally off-guard.

It was late-afternoon, and I was walking back from the video game store with Katsuya. He'd been hanging out a lot more with me lately. I kind of wondered if maybe Anzu had put him up to it to keep an eye on me, or if he still felt guilty about bullying me in middle school, but regardless, I really enjoyed his company. He was just getting into video games and card games. He hadn't been able to play any when he was younger, he explained, and I was the first friend he had who knew about any of this stuff. It was kind of adorable to watch him get excited about pulling a rare card out of a pack or see his eyes get all wide when he spotted a video game he wanted.

Anyway, we were on our way back and we decided to stop for something to eat. It was nothing special, just a fast food place since we both had to get home and finish some (very late) schoolwork. Katsuya went to go find us a table and I stood in line, staring up at the menu near the ceiling behind the counter.

<What is the difference between fries and sweet potato fries?>

I yelped in surprise, and the person standing in line in front of me turned to stare for a moment before looking away again. Heart pounding, I kept my eyes glued to the menu but raised my hand to grip the puzzle piece hanging around my neck. I counted to three in my head, then whispered, as quietly as I could:

"I think they're made with different potatoes."

For a while, nothing happened. All I could hear was the hustle and bustle of the busy fast food joint. I tried not to let the disappointment get to me, and just when I started to wonder if I'd only imagined hearing that voice again, it responded.

<What is a potato?>

I had to think about it for a minute. It was a vegetable, right? A root vegetable? Would the voice in the puzzle piece know what a root vegetable was? How does one explain a root vegetable–

"Hello? Sir? Can I take your order?"

I blinked. Suddenly I was at the front of the line. The person behind me was getting impatient. I could hear him tapping his foot. My face flushed and I hurried forward and told the person at the counter what I wanted. Just for the heck of it, I decided to tack on an order of sweet potato fries.

* * *

I didn't get a chance to talk to the puzzle piece again until I parted ways with Katsuya. I thought about telling him about the voice I could hear coming from it, but a nagging feeling in the back of my mind told me that I probably shouldn't. It was almost dark now and I was standing on the corner of the street waiting for the light to change. I was alone.

"Hey," I said, careful to keep my voice down, "Are you still there?"

This time the response was instantaneous. <Yes.>

I felt giddy with joy. It was talking to me! "Sorry I couldn't answer, there were tons of people around."

<It's all right.>

The light changed colour, and I looked both ways before I started to cross the street.

<I see you've learned to be cautious from your previous experience.>

"Huh?"

<You no longer charge ahead without checking for large vehicles,> it explained, then added, <It's a good thing.>

"Oh." I laughed sheepishly, "That, um. I wasn't paying attention back then. I had a lot on my mind."

<I see.>

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. "Thanks, by the way. For warning me. You probably saved my life, I doubt I'd survive actually getting hit by a bus."

<You're welcome, um…> it trailed off, like it had something else to say. I wondered what it was, but it spoke up again before I could ask, <Um. What is your name?>

The question surprised me for some reason. "You don't know?"

<No. How would I?>

I hopped back onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street, then shrugged. "I dunno. I thought maybe you could read my thoughts or something."

<No! Of course not!> It sounded repulsed by the idea. <No. I cannot read your thoughts.>

"Oh. Sorry. Well, uh, my name is Yuugi."

<Yuugi,> it repeated. <Yuugi. It's nice to meet you, Yuugi.>

"Nice to meet you too," I replied. We stayed in a comfortable silence for a bit until realized I didn't know what to call it, either. "Hey, hold on. What's  _your_  name?"

There was a heavy pause before it answered, and I could almost feel how sad and scared its voice was.

<I… I don't remember.>

* * *

It was kinda weird, having someone to talk to who was with me all the time, as long as I had that puzzle piece. Weird but fun. No, more than that, it was exciting! I stayed up late every night just chatting with him. Yep, "him". I asked what pronouns he wanted me to use.

He had questions about everything: school, home, the game shop that my grandpa runs, and a disproportionately large amount of questions about food that I could never quite find the words to explain. He even asked about my friends sometimes. I'd grown much closer to Anzu, Katsuya, and Hiroto over the past few months, and I trusted them. They'd probably believe me if I told them about my friend in the puzzle piece, so I offered to introduce them to him, but he declined politely every time. I assumed he was shy.

He never talked about himself, though. I figured he just couldn't remember. He'd sounded pretty torn up about not remembering his name, and I didn't want to reopen any wounds or hurt his feelings by asking him about himself.

Despite that, we got along very well. I found out a few weeks after we started talking regularly that he was  _super_  interested in games. Any kind of games. Board games, video games, card games, you name it. He listened with rapt attention when I explained them and had tons of hypothetical questions after. I knew he wanted to try playing. I wished that there was a way for me to let him. I asked if there was a way he could like, temporarily control my body or something through the puzzle piece that hung around my neck, but he seemed pretty disturbed by that notion so I never brought it up again.

I did, however, let him do a lot of backseat driving. It didn't work so well during video games because I often had to react quickly, but for board games and card games, he would play by telling me what to do and I'd do it for him, even if I knew he was making a mistake. I let him play an entire tournament that my grandpa's shop was holding, and he was so thrilled when he won.

He liked to watch sometimes too, especially story-heavy video games. There was one in particular that he really, really liked, and he sometimes asked me to play it as soon as I got home from school. It was kinda cute, honestly.

It became a pretty regular routine. Wake up, go to school, hang out with my school friends in the afternoon, go home, play games with my puzzle piece friend all evening, stay up late chatting, and inevitably fall asleep. On weekends I'd help with the shop or visit my school friends, but I always made a little time for my friend who lived in the puzzle piece.

Life was finally going well. I wasn't being bullied, I had more friends than I'd ever had in my entire life, and my grief following Ryou's death was slowly going away. I still missed him, terribly, but it didn't feel like my life was over anymore. I think he'd have been happy for me. Happy that I was happy again.

But all good things come to an end, I guess. It's amazing how quickly everything can change. One day was all it took for me. It was the first day of summer break, and I was excited. I decided to do something other than be a couch potato all summer, so I applied to be a Counselor-In-Training at a local day camp. Fun stuff. Unfortunately, I stayed up really late playing pokémon. There was a big tournament coming up and I wanted to be prepared, and in doing so I'd forgotten to set my alarm for the next morning. I wound up waking up  _extremely_  late, and I had to rush out of the house to make it to work in time.

And in my haste to get out the front door, I forgot the puzzle piece under my pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna explain my name choices real quick. in animorphs canon, it's dangerous for the kids to reveal their last names, so they never do (except maybe jake? his wiki page lists his last name so i guess we find out what it is at some point. im actually not done reading the series yet lmao). but yeah, the same applies for this fic. i'll keep the same honorifics but with first names instead of last names. don't worry, it's weird for me too.
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoyed the chapter! katsuya narrating up next!
> 
> thanks for reading!


	2. The Visitor: KATSUYA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really think "katsuya" is such a beautiful name and its such a shame that not many people call him that in canon. also, my cat is snoring rn and its very cute

My name is Katsuya. Y'know, introducing myself like this is really weird. People normally call me by my last name, not my first. To be honest, I address most people by their last names too, but right now, I can't. If I told you any of our last names, I'd be in pretty big trouble. My friends would chew me out for doing something so pointless and dangerous and stupid, and I might actually die. I'm not even kidding. I know, it's hard to believe that just telling people my last name would put me in danger. But it's true. I wish it wasn't, but it is. All because of what happened that day.

It was the first day of summer break, and normally I'd be pretty amped about it. No school, no homework, no need to come home in the evenings and be around my dumb dad. I could crash at a friend's house without their family worrying that something was wrong at home, and I could ditch town whenever I wanted to visit my little sister, who lives two cities over.

But no, not this time.  _This_  time, I'd let my friend Anzu talk me into doing summer classes. Yeah, what kind of  _idiot_  willingly takes summer classes?! That's what I told myself over and over as I got ready to face the day.

Awake at six thirty in the morning, during summer break. Good god, I was a moron. Smothering a yawn with my hand, I shrugged my backpack onto my shoulder and grabbed a cereal bar from the pantry before heading out the door. There was no car in the driveway. My dad had never come home the previous night. I rolled my eyes, whispered "good riddance", and was on my way.

I met up with Anzu at the train station. She looked bright-eyed and chipper and ready for a fun-filled (yuck!) day of summer school. How she does it, I'll never know.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

I made an indistinct grunting noise.

"Oh, grow up," she scolded, turning to face me, "This is for your own good. You're barely passing half your classes, this is a good chance to get your grades back up so you don't fail right out of high school."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, "Why're you here, then, miss top-of-the-class?"

She scowled at me. "I've explained it like a thousand times.  _I_ _'_ _m_  using these classes as revision, so I can be more prepared to take entrance exams later. I have big dreams, y'know, unlike  _some people_."

I made a face at her. "Hey, I have big dreams. Dreams about not being at the mercy of  _certain annoying people_ , and also, getting a girlfr—"

She rudely interrupted me by pushing past me to greet someone else. Yuugi had just arrived, looking frazzled and out of breath. His hair was sticking up even more than usual and he had bags under his eyes.

"G'morning, you guys," he said sleepily, rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand. He yawned, looking around at the station, "Sorry I'm late, I forgot to set my alarm. Is Hiroto-kun coming?"

Hiroto's been one of my best friends since elementary school. He lives a little further away than the rest of us, but has to switch train lines at this station, so we usually wait for him in the morning. Not today, though.

"Nah, he was smart enough to not get goaded into going to summer school," I said. Anzu stepped on my foot. I ignored her, "He's picking Shizuka up at the train station around ten, then they're gonna hang out with Ryuuji for the rest of the day. He said they'd all meet up with us at the department store later."

Shizuka is my little sister, and Ryuuji is a mutual friend of ours. Actually, Ryuuji used to hate Yuugi for some obscure reason that I still don't totally understand, but Yuugi kicked his butt at a card game and then they made peace. Somehow we were all friends now. I dunno. He's weird. Not a bad guy, though.

I looked at Yuugi again. He looked exhausted. "What's with you, Yuugi? Did you not sleep or somethin'?"

He shook his head. "I was up playing—" he interrupted himself with another yawn, "—playing pokémon. There's a huge tournament coming up and I wanna at least place in the top ten. I haven't done a whole lot of battling lately so I'm really rusty."

"Wait, really? I should enter too," I said.

Anzu gave me a disapproving stare as the train pulled in and the doors slid open.

"Relax, Anzu," I said, stepping onto the train behind Yuugi, "I'm not gonna let it get in the way of being an outstanding student."

Yuugi snorted and let out a poorly-disguised laugh.

"Thanks a lot, pal."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I just didn't think I'd ever hear something like that ever come out of your mouth."

"You guys have no faith in me," I grumbled, pretending to be more annoyed than I actually was. I plopped myself into an empty seat. Anzu sat beside me and poked me in the ribs.

"Oh, don't start moping," she said, "I know you hate it but you also know I'm right, you  _need_  to do well this summer. And look, if you really honestly need help, I'll help you. It'll be good revision anyway."

"I'll help too!" Yuugi added. He paused, "Well, maybe not with the school stuff, you know my grades aren't anything to write home about either, but you can practice battle against me to get ready for the tournament, if you want!"

"Actually, Yuugi, maybe you should stick around when Katsuya's doing homework," Anzu said, "Since, y'know, you just said yourself that you're not doing so well."

"Anzu, nooooo!"

I smiled. Man, it's hard to be mad at them when I know how much they actually care about me.

* * *

 Anzu and I parted ways with Yuugi at the train station. Next time, he said, he'd walk us to school, but he was already running late and didn't want to make a bad impression on the summer camp people he was working for. We waved goodbye to him, then set off toward school.

"Ugh, I was hoping to not have to see this place for at least a few weeks," I said disdainfully, staring up at the building. Anzu rolled her eyes. I sighed. "Fine, fine. Let's just go get this over with."

We made our way to the classroom we'd been assigned to for the summer. There were actually a lot of kids wandering around in the halls, some of them I recognized, some I didn't. Most of the ones I didn't were wearing a different school uniform.

"Hey, those guys don't go to our school, do they?" I asked Anzu quietly.

She shook her head. "No. They're from a nearby private school. Their school is under renovations, so our school is lending them classrooms for the summer. One of the girls in my dance class goes to that school, she was talking about it during practice yesterday. Actually, I think we have a joint class with them."

"Huh? Why?"

"Their history teacher just retired and they haven't hired a replacement yet," Anzu explained, "So they're joining our class until they do."

"Oh. Cool." I grinned. "I hope there are a few cute girls in class with us."

Anzu rolled her eyes again and shoved me through the classroom door.

Classes were boring, but I expected that. The material was stuff I'd seen before too, so it was a little easier to keep up. Honestly, it wasn't that bad, but don't tell Anzu I said that because I'll  _never_  hear the end of it. Halfway through third period, Hiroto sent me a really dumb selfie of himself, Shizuka, and Ryuuji making faces at the camera from behind a huge plate of waffles and ice cream. I coughed really loudly in an attempt to disguise a laugh, prompting Anzu to kick the back of my chair.

By lunchtime, I was in a pretty good mood. Anzu talked about her dance classes, I talked about that pokémon tournament, and we even got a text from Yuugi, telling us about how camp was so far. Everything was going well. Until our last class started, that is.

The door opened, and in came some students from the other school. A lot of them looked really awkward and nervous about being in a class with complete strangers, but one guy shouldered his way past them and strode confidently into the room. He was really tall for a high schooler, had blue eyes and brown hair, and wore a really irritating expression on his face. Y'know the face someone makes when they think they're better than everyone else but they're trying (and failing) not to show it? That one. And that's how I recognized him.

Back when my parents still lived together and we could afford it, my little sister and I went to a private elementary school. This guy had been one of my classmates. His name was Seto, and  _god_ , did I  _hate_ him.

We made eye contact. He narrowed his eyes at me. I glared right back at him. Then class started, so we had to stop our stupid little staring contest and pay attention to the teacher. Or try to, I guess. I dunno about him, but I couldn't focus anymore, I was too busy suddenly dreading summer classes. If Seto was around, there was  _bound_  to be trouble.

I was so mad about it that I didn't notice Anzu tapping at my shoulder with her pencil until she had to practically stab me with it.

"Ouch!" I hissed, turning my head a little so I could see her, "What the hell was that for?"

"Why are you staring that guy down?" she asked, "Do you know him or something?"

I looked away from him and stared out the window instead. "Knew him in elementary school. He's a complete asshole and I hate him. Damn it, I can't believe this. I don't wanna be stuck with him all frickin' summer!"

"Calm down, Katsuya," she whispered, tapping my shoulder with the pencil again, "How old were you when you went to school with him? Ten? Maybe he's changed since then."

I snorted. The teacher gave me a stern glance.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, maybe you're right and he's still a jerk. But look, he sits on the other side of the room, just ignore him."

"You don't have to tell me twice." I faced forward again and leaned over my desk to work on a handout. Or, pretend to, at least. I hadn't been paying attention and completely missed the instructions. But it worked, and Anzu let the subject drop. I calmed down as the hour wore on and by the end of class, I started to think that maybe I could survive a class with Seto so long as we ignored the other's existence.

But sadly, life's not that easy. And also, the universe hates me.

* * *

 "A group project!" I yelled, storming out of the school building with Anzu right behind me, "A group project, with  _him_!"

Anzu yanked on my backpack in an attempt to slow me down. It didn't work.

"Katsuya, calm down!" she said, letting go of my bag and trying to catch up with me instead, "Katsuya, you're—ugh—stop!"

She put on an extra burst of speed and darted in front of me. I stopped.

"Stop. Listen to yourself," she said, grabbing my arms, "You're making a huge deal out of  _nothing_!"

I shifted my backpack from one shoulder to the other, "You don't know him, Anzu. He's totally insufferable."

Anzu opened her mouth to say something, probably to tell me that I was being stupid, but we heard another voice instead.

"And you  _aren_ _'_ _t_  insufferable?"

I froze for a second, then I sighed and turned around, stuffing my hands into my pockets. Seto was standing before me, glowering at me with his arms crossed.

I glared right back at him. "What do you want, Seto?"

He smirked. It was infuriating. "Well, ideally, what I want is to never have to see your face ever again, but, unfortunately, we are in the same group for this history project. Which means that I  _am_ , in fact, stuck looking at your face—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what it means, you asshole," I snapped.

Seto sneered at me. "Clearly, you don't, seeing as you fled the classroom the moment we were dismissed, with hardly a care about the assignment we were given. Any sensible person would have at  _least_  met with their partner to discuss who takes care of which task, something that you deliberately neglected to do. Not very conducive to this project, if you ask me."

"Good thing I wasn't asking you."

He didn't have a clever comeback for that—which I took as a personal victory—and instead gave me the most condescending stare I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. "While it's true that I find your presence  _incredibly_  irritating, and I'd much rather spend my summer doing  _anything_  but associating with you, I have no intention of doing badly on this project. And seeing as it's worth thirty percent of our final grade, I will  _not_  let you screw it up. Is that clear?"

"You aren't the boss of me," I spat. But I knew he was right. We were stuck together and we had to make the best of it.

We agreed to meet up at the department store food court a little later. Anzu, being the nice person that she is, asked Seto if he wanted to tag along with us since we were going there anyway, but he made this sort of disgusted face and excused himself, telling us that he was a very busy man. I stuck my tongue out at him as soon as his back was turned. Anzu elbowed me in the side for it, but I could tell it was half-hearted; she was glaring at the back of his head as he sauntered away. Anzu's friendly, but she has no tolerance for any kind of superiority-complex crap.

I sulked all the way to the department store, mumbling insults under my breath as Anzu filled Yuugi in on the situation. After a while, Anzu got fed up with my brooding and told me to snap out of it.

"Come on, Katsuya," she said, "You're right, he's a jerk, but it could be worse. You could be stuck-with him year round. Be glad this arrangement is only for the summer."

"Yeah, you're right," I muttered, "At least it's only for the summer. Only for the summer. It'll be over soon."

Hahaha. Haha. Ha.

* * *

 Shizuka at least had the decency to pat me on the back and feel sorry for me for having to put up with Seto Know-It-All Asslord, Professional Jerkface Extraordinaire, but Hiroto...

We were sitting around a table on the outdoor terrace of the department store's food court. Anzu had just finished telling everyone about my spat with Seto, and that traitor Hiroto was laughing his ass off at my situation.

"Oh  _man_ ," he wheezed, wiping away a tear, "Of  _all_  people you could've been stuck working with, you had to land yourself with  _Seto_. I thought your thing was having  _good_  luck, not horrifically  _terrible_  luck."

"Hey, leave my gaming strategies out of this," I told him, picking absently at my food, "Ugh. What did I do to deserve this punishment?"

"What's the deal with this guy anyway?" asked Ryuuji, looking genuinely curious about it, "What did he do to piss you off so badly? Also, are you going to eat that?"

The whole table was looking at me. I shoved my half-empty bowl toward Ryuuji, who shoveled the rest of my food into his mouth in about two seconds flat.

"He's just. An  _asshole_ ," I said, "What more do you want?"

Hiroto scowled at me. "Don't give me that. I was there, remember? I saw the whole thing. We were in fifth grade, same class as him."

Shizuka nodded. "If I remember correctly, he beat a third grader at chess during lunch, and he was really,  _really_  mean about it. He called him a talentless loser and said he should give up playing chess. Poor kid, he was so embarrassed, and there was a pretty big crowd watching, too.

"Yeah, that was exactly it," said Hiroto. He clapped a hand onto my shoulder "The kid started crying so you walked over there and punched Seto in the face. He punched you back. You both got sent to the principal's office. You got suspended, he didn't. You've hated each other ever since."

Everyone stared at me. Anzu looked offended on my behalf, and Ryuuji's mouth was hanging open.

"Wow," said Yuugi, shaking his head, "That's pretty awful."

I shrugged. "I said he was an asshole, didn't I?"

"Hey, how come  _he_  didn't get suspended, but you did?" asked Ryuuji, "I mean, he punched you back. That's suspension-worthy behavior, isn't it?"

Shizuka and I exchanged glances.

"He probably got his dad to pull some strings," said Shizuka, "Since he's from a powerful family and all."

I guess you wouldn't know unless you've heard him introduce himself, but Seto comes from a really wealthy background. See, his dad runs some huge company that makes basically everything, from military weapons to kids' video game software. There probably isn't a person in the whole country that doesn't know Seto's name. Or his dad's, at least.

"That's got to be a lot of pressure, though," Yuugi said thoughtfully, tapping his 3DS stylus against his chin, "Can you imagine being the heir to a company that prestigious? One toe out of line, and you're toast."

I shrugged. "Whatever, I don't care. He's mean and rude to basically everyone, so I don't feel sorry for him. End of story."

Thankfully, the subject changed after that. I did some practice battles against Yuugi and lost all of them, but I didn't really mind. Yuugi wasn't able to sweep my whole team with just one pokémon anymore, so that was a definite improvement! I battled Ryuuji a couple of times too, one win and one loss each. He had to leave before we could have a tiebreaker match, though.

"Sorry, Katsuya-kun," he said, shutting his 3DS and slipping it back into his bag, "We'll settle the score next time, okay?"

"Oh c'mon," I replied, "What's so important that you can't stay for one more battle?"

He winked at me. "It's a secret."

Hiroto rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. It's that Sharing thing you're obsessed with, isn't it?"

Ryuuji stuck his bottom lip out in a pout and nudged Hiroto's shoulder with his. "God, Hiroto-kun, always spoiling my fun. But yes, I'm going to a Sharing meeting."

"Oh, I've heard of the Sharing," said Anzu, looking up from her homework to join in on our conversation. "A couple of girls in my dance class are part of it. What is it, anyway?"

Ryuuji grinned. "I'm so glad you asked, Anzu! It's an organization, nonprofit of course, and it's… well, you should come find out for yourself!"

Anzu huffed loudly, resting her chin on her palm. "Are you serious? My friends in dance class said the same thing! What's up with you guys?"

He laughed sheepishly, tugging at the headband he was wearing. "I know, I felt the same way back before I joined. Pain in the ass to hear, but fun to say once you're in, hahah. But it's worth it, I swear."

I scoffed. "Real convincing, Ryuuji."

He shrugged, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. "Hey, what can I say? Full members like me know stuff the others don't. But I'll tell you one thing: it's life-changing! You guys should try it out. I think you'd like it. Trust me."

"Sounds like a cult," joked Yuugi, "It's all you talk about lately, but we know nothing about it."

Ryuuji laughed again. "Sorry! I'm just really happy there, that's all. Actually, the Sharing's hosting an event soon. It's gonna be really fun, you guys should totally come. It's open to the general public, so keep this weekend open, okay?"

He was two steps away from the table when he stopped, like he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, actually!" he called back to us, "There's an open house sort of thing for the Sharing tonight at that fancy hotel a few blocks from the park. I'm gonna be there at around eight, so stop by and check it out if you guys want in!"

Ryuuji left in a hurry after that, saying he was late to his meeting. Sheesh. What a busy guy. Whatever, it turned out to be a fun, relaxing afternoon, and when Seto actually showed up to work on the project, it didn't go as horribly as I thought it would. He hated the situation as much as I did, so he was willing to cooperate.

Just when we were wrapping things up, Yuugi came over and sat next to me. We had moved a few tables over so we could get some work done without any distractions, so it startled me when Yuugi suddenly appeared beside me. It was starting to get dark too, and I didn't hear him coming.

"Yuugi, you scared the crap out of me," I told him, ruffling his hair, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just..." He pulled his 3DS out and flipped it open, the light from it illuminating his face. He looked up at Seto. "I think I streetpassed you…?"

Seto narrowed his eyes at Yuugi, then reached into his bag and pulled out a blue 3DS. The little green light was on.

Yuugi's face lit up. "I thought so! And you play pokémon too. Are you entering the tournament coming up in a couple months?"

He nodded.

I looked between Seto and Yuugi. I did  _not_  like the look on Yuugi's face. Something was telling me that he was about to do something  _incredibly_  stupid—

"Would you like to battle, Seto-kun?"

—Aaaaand there it was.

I don't know why, but I expected Seto to decline. He didn't. He gave Yuugi a confident smirk and started up his game.

"You're on."

* * *

 I could have died happy watching that battle. It was intense, back-and-forth from start to finish, with Seto in the lead one minute and Yuugi the next. They were down to a pokémon each, Seto's Mega Salamence with over half its health left, and Yuugi's Banette at full health. Yuugi's pokémon used protect the first turn while mega evolving, and the Mega Salamence's double edge bounced off harmlessly. Thanks to its ability, I forget what it's called, Mega Banette went first and landed a will-o-wisp, the burn causing the next double edge to only knock Banette's health just over halfway down.

Other stuff happened, something about pain split—I have no idea what that move does, it looks confusing—but the bottom line is, Mega Salamence was so close to fainting I could've  _cried_ , but Yuugi's Mega Banette was at low health too, and he'd just had it use protect. It would probably fail if he tried to use it again. Seto had this smug grin on his face, acting like he'd already won.

"Good game, Seto-kun," said Yuugi. My shoulders sagged. It looked like Yuugi had accepted his defeat.

But the pokémon that fainted didn't belong to Yuugi. My jaw dropped as I watched Mega Banette move first, hitting Mega Salamence with shadow sneak. Its HP hit zero and it fainted, disappearing from the screen.

Seto looked up from his 3DS. He stared intensely at Yuugi for a few seconds before speaking. "Most people run destiny bond on Mega Banette."

Yuugi shrugged. "Well, not me!" he said cheerfully, "That was super fun. I hope we get to battle again at the tournament."

The corners of Seto's mouth twitched. "I'll crush you."

He didn't wait for Yuugi to respond. He checked his watch, then stood up, snapping his 3DS shut and putting it back in his bag. He nodded at Yuugi, then turned to leave.

"Wait!" I yelled before I could even think about what I was doing. Seto glanced at me over his shoulder, looking totally disinterested. I fumbled around in my own bag and yanked out my scratched-up secondhand 3DS, "Battle me next."

Seto let out the most arrogant laugh I have ever heard and continued walking.

"What's your problem?!" I all but leaped out of my chair, slinging my bag over my shoulder and chasing after him, "What's so funny? Why won't you battle me?"

Seto didn't even stop walking. "I have already spent way too much time on you today. I'm not about to waste even more. I have somewhere to be, and I refuse to be held back by someone like you."

God. What an asshole. Part of me wanted to just stop walking, let it slide, and, y'know, not waste my time on a guy who hates my guts. But no, I was way too stubborn, and I was  _determined_  to get him to battle with me. I would chase him all the way to his goddamn house if I had to.

You know, come to think of it, I never got that battle. I hate to say it, but it's actually the least of my concerns right now. Still, though, sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't gone after him that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the super detailed pokémon battle at the end there lmao, i really love pokémon and i got a little carried away. mega salamence is so silly-looking, it reminds me of a frisbee. i love it. anyway, this chapter was mostly exposition, sorry about that! Cool Alien Stuff is happening next chapter, which is gonna be narrated by anzu!
> 
> thanks for reading!


	3. The Encounter: ANZU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is so long oh my god
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Blood, gore, death

My name is Anzu, and honestly, I might as well drop out of school and become a full-time nanny considering how often I find myself babysitting my idiot friends. You’d think they’d realize how lucky they are to have me and how much _trouble_ they’d be in without me, maybe think to themselves, “Gee, I should listen to Anzu more often, seeing as she’s constantly saving my sorry butt!”, but no, nobody listens to Anzu! What else is new?!

I’m sorry, I guess that was sort of overwhelming. I’ll start over.

My name is Anzu. I’m in high school, and I like dancing. I have some friends who do a lot of really stupid things, but I love them anyway.

First, there are Katsuya and Hiroto, two best friends who had become _my_ best friends over the course of a year in the same class. They’re loud, they’re obnoxious, and they’re really immature. They’ve done a lot of things they regret, but their hearts are in the right place and they’ve grown a lot since I first met them.

Then there’s Shizuka. She’s Katsuya’s little sister. She’s quiet and soft-spoken, very gentle. I’m still getting to know her, though; Katsuya’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother, whose house is two cities over, so I don’t see her all that much.

Oh, I almost forgot Ryuuji. I met him through Hiroto and Katsuya. He’s a little strange, but he’s a nice guy and fun to be around. I haven’t seen him a whole lot lately though; he’s been super busy with some nonprofit organization he joined called The Sharing. He’s been a lot more upbeat since joining, so I’ve been meaning to go check it out and see what it’s like for myself. In fact, he invited our whole group to a sort of open-house meeting at eight before he took off for his full members-only meeting.

And finally there’s Yuugi. What a sweet kid. I say “kid”, but he’s the same age as me, it’s just that he’s very short, and has these big warm eyes that make your heart melt. I sort of took him under my wing last year. I was in the same class as him and noticed he seemed really lonely and depressed, and I can’t turn a blind eye to someone who looks so miserable. Turns out that his best friend committed suicide and he was suffering alone with his grief. I let myself become a shoulder for him to cry on, and as we grew closer, he became mine as well.

So you see, I love my friends. Dearly. They’re important to me, completely irreplaceable, and I don’t know where I’d be without them.

But right now, I kind of wanted to kill them.

I’d just spent my whole day in summer school, which, I admit, is not my idea of a good time, but I have big dreams that rely pretty heavily on getting good grades, so it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I talked Katsuya into doing the same thing, and for a while, it was going well, but then he ended up getting assigned a group project with a kid named Seto. And it just so happened that they knew one another back in elementary school, and they _absolutely hated each other._

At first, Katsuya was able to keep his cool and not pummel the guy. They managed to stay civil and work quietly on their project together. Then Yuugi wandered over there and played some video game with Seto for a bit, and when Katsuya tried joining them, Seto got up and left, which I guess offended Katsuya because he started chasing after him. Yuugi followed. Then Shizuka and Hiroto. And suddenly I was alone at our table with all our books and belongings.

I threw my hands up in exasperation, then scrambled to shove all of our stuff into my bag before running to catch up with them. I could hear Katsuya having a pretty one-sided argument with Seto several meters ahead of me, with Yuugi’s much softer voice trying in vain to calm him down.

By the time I caught up to them, the department store was a couple blocks behind us, and were headed toward a park. It was a big, grassy open space dotted with trees, with a lake in the middle and a bridge that stretched across it, leading to the residential area on the other side. Hiroto brought his dog here on walks sometimes and threw a frisbee for her to go fetch in the water. Right now, though, the bridge was closed and the lake was drained due to some construction project. Nobody came here anymore since it was basically just a big ugly hole in the ground, and tonight was no different: the place was totally deserted and there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Other than our pack of idiot teenagers, that is.

“Do you think you’re like, God’s gift to mankind or something?!” Katsuya was shouting at Seto, “Because you’re not! You don’t have the right to act like you’re better than everyone else!”

“I don’t have to “act” like I’m better than you,” Seto shot back, turning around to glare at him. Katsuya’s relentless yelling finally extinguished what was left of his patience, “I _know_ I’m better. There’s no need to act.”

“Oh no,” I muttered.

I watched as Katsuya lunged forward, grabbing Seto by the lapels of his uniform blazer. He yanked Seto down to eye-level. “The _hell_ did you just say?!”

Seto opened his mouth, probably to say something even _more_ rude, but before he could, the ground beneath them, the ground that would normally be the damp soil by the water’s edge, crumbled and fell away. They tumbled backwards and out of sight, landing with a loud _thump!_ down below.

I broke into a run, following Yuugi, Shizuka, and Hiroto until I stood with at the edge of the empty lake as well.

“Seto-kun! Katsuya-kun!” Yuugi called after them, “Are you two all right?!”

For a while, we heard nothing. Then came Seto’s voice.

“Get off me!”

“I’d be glad to!” snapped Katsuya shortly after, “Ouch, damn it, I think I twisted my ankle!”

“Serves you right.”

“Shut up!”

They continued squabbling, and I turned to look at Yuugi, who gave me a small smile and shrugged. “Well, at least they’re okay,” he said. He faced forward again, “I’m gonna go down there and give them a hand.”

“Yuugi, wait—”

He stepped forward cautiously, then yelped when the loose ground slipped underneath him, sending him down into the drained lake and out of sight as well.

“I’m going, too!” that was Shizuka, who was gone before I could even say anything.

I looked at Hiroto. Hiroto looked at me.

“Don’t you dare,” I said.

He scratched the back of his neck, said “sorry, Anzu,” and jumped down as well.

I stared into the darkness after them. I fumbled around in my pocket for my cell phone, flipping it open to check the time. Half past seven. I sighed.

“I guess we’re not going to that Sharing meeting,” I grumbled. It was a shame too, because the hotel we were supposed to meet Ryuuji at was only a few streets away. Sighing, I took a step forward, trying to keep my balance as I slid down the edge of the lake.

The lake was only about six feet deep, I discovered. It just looked like more because it was dark, and the slope leading to the deepest part of the lake was very long, alternating rapidly between very steep and very gradual. I found my friends right where the ground leveled out and became flat, about twenty feet away from the shore.

Hiroto and Yuugi had put themselves between Seto and Katsuya, who were still arguing, flinging insults back and forth with such venom that it scared me a little. Shizuka was quietly begging for her brother to stop, pulling on his hand in an attempt to snap him out of his anger, but it was no use.

“Come on, onii-chan, let’s just go home,” she said, but it went unheard over Katsuya’s shouting.

“ _My_ fault?! You think this is _my_ fault?!” he hollered, “ _You’re_ the one who was picking a fight!”

“Not only are you an idiot, but you have a faulty, useless memory as well,” Seto sneered, “ _You’re_ the one who chased after me. _You’re_ the one who attacked me.”

“Which I _wouldn’t_ have done if you had even the tiniest shred of goddamn respect!”

“And why should I respect _you_ , of all people?”

I’d had enough.

“Both of you, stop it!” I yelled. But it was useless. They just kept arguing. Shizuka gazed at me helplessly. She looked like she was going to cry.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears myself. This wasn’t how this summer was supposed to go, I thought angrily. Not even close.

I wanted for us to hang out after school or camp or _whatever,_ to laugh and be happy and just _enjoy_ our time together, as a group. But no, I was stuck at the bottom of an empty lake, in the dark, on the first day of summer, watching one of my best friends toe the line between a vicious argument and a physical fight. And I was powerless to stop it.

No! No. Thinking like that wouldn’t solve anything. I had to find a solution, quickly. I clenched my fists and took a step forward, then another, until I was in front of Hiroto and Yuugi, who were still standing between Seto and Katsuya to prevent any punches from being thrown. They didn’t even notice I was there.

“If you’re looking for someone to blame, blame _yourself_.”

“No! I’m _through_ taking the fall for all the garbage that comes out of your mouth!”

“Oh? Then consider _minding your own business_ , maybe then you won’t find yourself in trouble for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

****I took a deep breath. Filled my lungs with as much air as I possibly could. Then I screamed.

**_“I SAID, STOP IT!”_ **

I’d never heard my own voice at such a volume. It felt amazing. And it was kind of cool, because I’d accidentally timed it with a huge gust of wind that slammed into our small group with such ferocity that it made everyone stumble. And then after, it became quiet. Seto and Katsuya _finally_ stopped arguing.

Neither of them said a word. They stopped moving. Even in the dark, I could see the two of them staring at me, their eyes wide, stunned into silence. I have never felt so satisfied. I smiled and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Now, let’s just forget any of this happened, and–”

I was interrupted by Katsuya raising his arm and pointing toward me. “What the _hell_ is that?” he whispered.

I almost lost my temper on him. My patience had worn thin ages ago, and I was honestly ready to slap him. But before I could, I saw something reflected in his eyes. Something big and blue and covered in lights that were illuminating the empty lake around me. That’s when I understood that Katsuya and Seto weren’t staring _at_ me, but _past_ me, at something behind me. I turned around.

“What is that?!” Katsuya repeated, but this time, his voice was laced with fear. “It… it just appeared outta nowhere!”

I knew in my heart exactly what it was, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. I’d sound _stupid_ , and even though we were in such a ridiculous place in such a ridiculous situation, I felt self-conscious even thinking it.

Thankfully, someone else picked up the slack for me. His voice was barely above a whisper, but we all heard him loud and clear.

“It’s… it’s a spaceship,” said Yuugi. 

* * *

 

The spaceship—that’s what it was, and nobody denied it—hovered a few feet above the ground in the empty lake for a moment before making a shuddering, creaking sound and dropping to the ground. The impact sent us all stumbling again, but no one cared. We were too busy staring at it.

The front part was round, with a huge window. The rest was narrower, about the length of a bus. But where the end of the bus would be, there was a structure shaped like a scorpion’s tail, curving back to the front and ending in a deadly point. It had wings, too, pointed out to the sides like those of a plane, and it had bright blue lights on the back. The lights cast an eerie glow around the bottom of the drained lake, giving everything it touched long, spindly shadows.

Nobody spoke. I don’t know if it was out of fear or awe–personally, I was feeling both. We were all frozen in place, staring at the space ship, waiting. Waiting for what? I don’t know. I had no idea what to expect, I don’t think anyone did. But we didn’t have to wait long, because a few seconds later, a door opened and out came the strangest creature I had ever seen.

It stood on four wobbly legs that looked like a deer’s, but it had a torso that looked almost human. It had a set of arms that had more than five fingers (I couldn’t tell how many exactly in the dark), and a human-shaped head. So a centaur, but with a deer instead of a horse. But that’s where any similarities to anything I’d seen on earth came to an end. 

It might’ve been the bluish light, but I’m fairly certain that its fur was blue as well. It had pointed ears on the side of its head, and a pair of what looked like horns coming from the top. As it drew closer, I saw that each horn was able to swivel around in every direction, and was topped with an eye that could see in whichever direction the horn turned. Its face looked more or less human, with two eyes where they should be, except it had no mouth. Instead, there were three vertical slits where a nose would’ve been.

“Holy crap, look at its tail,” whispered Hiroto from somewhere on my right.

I looked at it, and I felt myself begin to tremble. The creature–the _alien_ –had a long tail that ended with a huge, scythe-shaped blade. To say that that tail could do some serious damage would be an _understatement_.

I was scared. No, I was _terrified_. I wanted to run. But I couldn’t. I watched as it came closer and closer, unable to look away from that tail blade that swayed back and forth as it approached. I was going to die. I was sure of it. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“It’s hurt.”

I opened my eyes again. Yuugi had taken a step forward.

“Guys, it’s _hurt_ ,” he repeated.

I wanted to tell him to stop, that it was too dangerous, but I think even if I’d found the courage to open my mouth, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him. Yuugi kept moving, and suddenly he was within range of that deadly tail.

Sudden movement!

I gasped. But it hadn’t been an attack. The alien’s deer-like knees gave out and it sunk to the ground. Yuugi rushed forward to catch it, lending it his shoulder to lean on and lowering it gently to the ground.

<Thank you.>

I jumped. I was certain I’d heard a voice just now, but not out loud. For the first time, I looked away from the alien to the others. They all looked as surprised as I was.

“Did you hear that?” Shizuka whispered.

Everyone nodded.

<Do not be afraid.> The alien held up one of its hands with too many fingers. <I have no intention of hurting you.>

“What are you?!” Katsuya blurted out. His voice was shaking.

<I am an Andalite,> said the alien, <We are a race committed to protecting the universe from those who seek to conquer it. And I’m afraid that I must be the bearer of bad news.>

None of us responded. I waited for him to continue speaking, heart pounding in my throat. I felt queasy.

<Your planet is under attack,> said the Andalite, <I fear it may already be too late to save it.>

Somebody laughed. It was Hiroto. But it wasn’t the laugh I was familiar with, the one that came out of him if Yuugi said something funny, or if he’d just watched Katsuya make an idiot of himself. No, this was a terrified laugh, one that was quivering and sounded almost like a sob.

“The hell are you talking about,” he said, “We’re not under attack. That’s impossible.”

The Andalite looked at each of us, his big green eyes heavy with sadness. <I regret to inform you that it is _very_ possible. That it is already happening. They are called the Yeerks, and they are well on their way to enslaving the human race. >

“I think someone would have noticed if there was an alien invasion happening.” Even though Seto was using his usual dry, sardonic tone of voice, I could hear the tiniest sliver of uncertainty beneath it.

The Andalite blinked heavily. <No. Unfortunately, the Yeerks are quite skilled at stealthy invasions. This isn’t the first planet they’ve infested without its inhabitants catching on until it was too late.>

“That’s ridiculous!” Seto barked, “There is no way that _nobody_ could have–”

“ _Stop_!”

I wasn’t used to hearing Yuugi’s voice sound so forceful. Even in the dark, I could see his eyes watering. His hold on the Andalite tightened.

“Stop it,” he repeated, “Look. If you wanna continue arguing about whether or not there’s really an invasion happening, do it later. It’s not important right now. The Andalite—he’s _hurt_ , and we have to help him!”

For once, Seto listened. I took another look at the Andalite and felt my breath catch in my throat. There was a huge gash on his side, and a blackened burn that stretched across half his abdomen.

I heard another laugh, one that made no sound out loud but echoed in my head. It was the Andalite’s laugh, a gentle, content sound that calmed my racing heart a little bit.

<You are very kind,> the Andalite said to Yuugi. It reached up with one of its many-fingered hands and ruffled Yuugi’s hair, <And I am grateful for that kindness. But I am dying.>

Yuugi opened his mouth to object, but the Andalite interrupted.

<I am dying,> he said firmly, <My wounds _will_ kill me. I am no longer able to protect this planet. But I will tell you everything I can, and give you a means to fight back, if that is what you wish. It is the least I can do, after failing to stop the Yeerks myself. >

One by one, we all nodded, even Seto. The Andalite smiled at us. Well, it wasn’t a smile, because he had no mouth, but the corners of his eyes crinkled a little bit, and somehow, I knew he was happy.

<The Yeerks are parasites,> he explained, and suddenly I could see a picture of one in my mind, a greyish greenish slug as long as my forearm. I guess everyone else saw it too, because I heard Katsuya make a startled “Ergh!” sound. <They cannot survive without a host. They enter their host’s body through their ears and control them by accessing their brain. The host becomes a prisoner of their own mind and body, losing all control of their movements, even something as small blinking or breathing. It is easier if the host is voluntary, but regardless, the Yeerk’s control is absolute. There are no external changes. That is why they are so dangerous; distinguishing a normal life form from a Yeerk-infested one—a Controller—is impossible. They could be anyone.>

“But, we’d be able to tell, right?” said Katsuya, sounding hopeful, “We’d notice something was off.”

“That’s right,” Shizuka added, though she sounded much less optimistic than her brother. Her voice was trembling, “The Controllers… They’d act differently, wouldn’t they?”

“Exactly.” Seto narrowed his eyes at the Andalite, “I find it hard to believe that one of these Yeerk things could pass as human. Even if they _are_ stealthy enough to avoid detection, how would they know how to blend in? It would be obvious that something is amiss about the person they are controlling, would it not?”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Yeah, that’s true,” I said, “Humans aren’t stupid, we’d notice if one of our friends was behaving strangely.”

<No. You would not.>

It felt like someone punched me in the gut. I didn’t want to believe it, I didn’t want to hear what the Andalite said next. But I knew better. I listened.

<When the Yeerks take hold of their host, they have access to that person’s memories. They can read their hosts’ thoughts and learn their habits. Essentially, they are able to _become_ their host, take their place so flawlessly that it escapes the notice of the host’s peers. That is what I mean when I say that telling the difference between someone who is a Controller and someone who is not is extremely difficult, if not impossible. >

“So we’re screwed, basically.” I’d never heard Hiroto sound so hopeless, “How do we know who to trust?”

“We don’t.” Seto’s voice was level, cold even. “That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

<Yes. It is… a very difficult situation,> the Andalite admitted, <We—myself and other Andalites—tried to stop them, but we were overpowered before we could even reach the planet’s atmosphere. I am the only survivor, and I will soon die. I sent a distress signal to my people, but help won’t come for one, maybe two of your years. By then, it will be too late. It may already be. The Yeerks know I have landed. Even though my ship was cloaked on the way down, they will be able to trace my trajectory from my position on the battlefield. They will be here soon to eliminate any trace of my presence here.>

There was a lump in my throat. I couldn’t speak. I could feel the Andalite’s anger, his hatred, his despair. But then, a wave of courage. Defiance.

<But there may still be a way.> He looked at each of us again with one of his stalk eyes, turning it to each of us one by one, <I can leave you with a power that may be able to stand up to the Yeerks. Go into my ship. There is a blue box, small and plain. Please bring it to me.>

For the first time, we all looked away from the Andalite to look at each other. We were at a loss for words. Who would go into the ship? Everything was happening so fast, way too fast. Making a decision at a time like this felt impossible. 

<Please, hurry. The Yeerks will be here soon.>

“Anzu…” said Yuugi.

It was like his voice snapped me out of some kind of trance. I nodded at him. He’d have volunteered to go into the ship, but I knew he didn’t want to leave the dying Andalite’s side. “I’ll go,” I said.

The ship's interior was nothing like its intimidating exterior. It was warm and cozy, completely unthreatening. The walls and ceiling were a creamy colour, and everything in there was oval-shaped, with rounded edges. The blue box was easy to find: it was the only thing on board with straight, sharp edges. It felt heavy in my hands as I crossed back over to the door. 

Just before I stepped out, a hologram near the controls caught my eye. It was an image of several Andalites, some big, some small. I recognized the one who had been talking to us. He stood between two smaller Andalites, one a darker blue, and the other a bluish purple. The dark blue one had a hand on his shoulder, and the purple one clung to his arm. They were all doing the smiley-eyes thing. 

They were his friends, or his family, I realized with dread. And now he was going to die, millions of billions of miles away from home. I tore my gaze away from the hologram before I could burst into tears.

I gave the Andalite the box. He held onto my hands for a moment and looked into my eyes with all four of his.

<Thank you.>

I nodded. The others came closer until we were all crouched in a cluster in front of the Andalite.

<With this, I can give you the power to morph.> We all stared at him blankly. It prompted him to continue explaining. <As in, change your bodies to take on the shape of other species. Any animal. All you need to do is touch them to acquire their DNA. This power comes with dangers and limitations, but I don’t have time to explain them all, the Yeerks are close. Will you accept this power? It may be your only hope.>

“This is nuts…” whispered Hiroto, “This is just…”

He trailed off. No one else spoke. I felt a surge of desperation come from the Andalite.

<I cannot and will not force you to do anything,> he said, <I am aware that you are young, and that this will be a tremendous weight on your shoulders, but…>

He trailed off too, but I could easily guess what he would say next. I think Yuugi knew what he’d have said too, because he said what I was thinking out loud.

“We have no other choice.”

A heavy silence fell over the group as the gravity of what was happening to us sunk in.

“I’ll do it.” Shizuka reached out and gently put her hand over the Andalite’s wrist. “I’m in.”

“No way,” said Katsuya, shaking his head, “Absolutely not. I won’t let you, it’s way too dangerous.”

Shizuka turned to look at him. Her soft, smiling face was gone, replaced by a seriousness and determination I had never seen in her before.

“Onii-chan, we’re in danger whether we accept the Andalite’s power or not,” she said, “This is our planet, and I’d rather die protecting it than sit around and wait for the Yeerks to take me and the people I love. I’m doing this, and you can’t stop me.”

Katsuya had nothing to say to that. He and his sister gazed into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, then he looked away and sighed. “Fine. You’re right. I’m in, too.”

“Katsuya, that’s crazy!” said Hiroto, “You’re throwing your life away, man! This is… This is just…” he bit his lip. “This is too big for us. We’re just a bunch of teenagers. We can’t save the world!”

Katsuya started to say something, but before he could, the sky lit up. Something huge was looming in the distance, scanning the ground with two beams of red light.

<They will be here any moment,> said the Andalite with barely-contained panic. He pawed at the ground with one of his front hooves.

“Let’s do this,” I said, suddenly feeling brave, “Shizuka’s right, it’s do or die.”

The Andalite didn’t wait for the others to give him their answers. He turned the blue box over in his hands and held it between us. <Place your palms against one of the sides. It won’t hurt.>

Hiroto and Seto stared at us as we each put our hands to a side of the box. After watching us calmly for a moment, Seto scoffed and placed his hand on the box as well.

“You’re all crazy,” said Hiroto, but he leaned forward and pressed his hand against it too.

I felt a quick shock not unlike being zapped by static electricity, but it was painless, just tingling a bit. The Andalite withdrew the box.

<You each hold the power to morph now. Use it well, save your world, or at least hold the Yeerks off long enough for my Andalite allies to bring reinforcements,> said the Andalite. He sounded tired. The stalks that held up his secondary eyes seemed to droop, <Now go, leave me and run from this place, before they find you.>

“What?! No!” Yuugi squeaked. He shook his head, “We can’t just leave you behind! We… we can all escape together, you could guide us!”

The Andalite smiled with his eyes again. <I appreciate the thought, but you need to go. There is no saving me. I have done all I can for you.>

“But—”

There was another gust of wind, this one so loud that it drowned out the rest of what Yuugi was saying. A deafening whirring noise filled the air. I looked up. The Yeerk ship was still far away, but it was much lower in the sky and on-course right toward the park. Toward _us_.

And it wasn’t just any Yeerk ship, we learned.

<You must go at once!> cried the Andalite, <Visser Three is coming! Go! Hide!>

“Who the hell is Visser Three?” asked Katsuya, but I don’t think the answer would have mattered; the fear and anger we felt from the Andalite’s words was enough to send us running.

We broke away from the Andalite, scrambling up the hill to the shoreline. I looked over my shoulder and my heart sank. Yuugi was still kneeling next to the Andalite, tugging at his hand in an effort to get him up and running.

He’s going to get himself killed, I thought despairingly, but then the Andalite reached over with his other hand and touched Yuugi’s forehead. They were still for a moment, but then Yuugi recoiled as if he’d been struck.He leaped to his feet and tore away from the Andalite, taking a running jump at the slope and beginning to climb.

We regrouped at the top of the hill and dove behind some bushes.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” I said angrily, slapping Yuugi’s shoulder with the back of my hand.

“Two hours,” he said.

“What?”

“Two hours,” he repeated, looking around at the others, “That’s how long we can stay in a morph for. Any more than that, and we’re stuck that way for good.”

Everyone stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

“He… he touched my face and crammed my head with as much information as he could,” Yuugi went on, looking away to peer out at the empty lake. He grit his teeth, “I just wish there was something we could do for him…”

“Well, we can’t,” said Hiroto, “Let’s get out of here. I don’t wanna get killed, or worse.”

Yuugi sent him a resentful look, but he didn’t protest. Seto, however, did.

“No,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We are _not_ moving.”

Katsuya glared at him. “You wanna stay here and get captured? Fine. Not us. C’mon, you guys, let’s go.”

“No, you idiot!” snapped Seto, “If we run, we’ll be caught. Weren’t you listening to the Andalite? He said “hide”. Which implies that if this Yeerk ship has as much as an _inkling_ that we are here, we will all be killed. We have to stay hidden for now.”

Both Hiroto and Katsuya looked like they were going to argue, but I shushed them.

“He’s right,” I said, “The safest thing for us to do right now is to shut up, stay put, and hope they don’t find us.”

Silence fell over the group and we crouched lower to the ground as the Yeerk ship descended. I inhaled sharply, eyes widening when I saw that there wasn’t just one ship, but _three_. Two smaller ships hovered next to the larger one. They touched down first, and I had to bite back a scream when their pilots came out.

The first one slithered out the door on dozens and dozens of sharp, tiny legs. It looked like a gigantic centipede, probably something like ten feet long, with four beady red eyes and a circular mouth filled with hundreds of pointed, gnashing teeth.

The second was even worse, so terrifying it put the scariest horror movie monsters to shame. It walked upright on two legs, and its feet ended in deadly-looking talons that left deep gouges in the ground as it walked. But that was hardly the most horrifying thing about it. Blades grew out of its arms in two places, the elbows and the wrists, and then even more on its back-bent knees and its thick, swishing tail. Its long, snakelike neck turned this way and that. My heart leaped into my throat when it looked over to the bushes we were hiding in. Its razor-sharp raptor beak snapped open and shut, then it shook its head, which had three more horns mounted on it.

Next to me, Katsuya let out a breathy, terrified laugh. “Shit,” he hissed, “Shit, it sees us, we’re dead, we are _so_ dead.”

<Do not panic.>

I jumped. So did the others. We could still hear the Andalite’s thought-speech, but it was much fainter now.

<Do not panic,> he said again, <Hork-Bajir do not see well in the dark. You are safe as long as you do not make a sound. But you must stay where you are. If you move, you will die, and I will not be able to save you.>

He was right. The Hork-Bajir turned away, raising its arm to signal the larger ship, which sunk slowly toward the ground. It looked like a huge anchor lying on its side: one long shaft stuck out in front, then split into three near the back, two blade-shaped wings curving out to either side. The tips of the wings glowed, firing two beams of light at the Andalite’s ship. I heard Yuugi whimper as the Andalite ship disintegrated, not a single trace left behind. Only then did Visser Three’s ship land.

My stomach churned when Visser Three finally made his appearance, stepping out onto the ground with four deer-like legs. His body–both the deer half and the human half–were covered in blue blue fur, and a pair of arms with too many fingers came from his shoulders. His mouthless face had two almond-shaped eyes, with two more growing from stalks on the top of his head, right between his pointed ears.

“Wait… he’s an Andalite, too?” asked Hiroto, voice thick with confusion.

“But I thought they were the good guys,” whispered Shizuka, then she slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized, eyes wide with horror. “Oh… oh no…”

<Visser Three is an Andalite-Controller,> said our Andalite bitterly, <The only one in existence. I hope.>

Visser Three approached the fallen Andalite with long, confident strides, stopping only an arm’s length away. Now that they were close together, I saw that Visser Three’s Andalite body was much smaller. He waited for about thirty seconds as more Hork-Bajir and centipede aliens, about ten of each, poured from the larger ship. They fanned out behind Visser Three and stood at attention, and when they came to a stop, he began to speak.

<What do we have here?> purred a cruel, sadistic voice, <A doomed, lonely Andalite? Poor thing. Would you like to grace me with your name before you die?>

My blood turned to ice. Why could we hear him? Did it mean that _he_ could hear _us_?!

<Stay calm,> said our Andalite in a soothing voice, <Visser Three is a prideful Yeerk, and is broadcasting his thought-speak for all to hear. You are safe.>

I let out the quietest sigh of relief I could manage. Sadly, that relief only lasted a few seconds.

<Answer me, Andalite filth!> Visser Three hollered. He whipped his tail forward, cutting into the Andalite’s shoulder.

The Andalite cried out in pain, but he did not dignify Visser Three with an answer. Instead, he staggered to his feet, looking Visser Three dead in the eye.

Visser Three let out an enraged scream. < _I. SAID. STATE. YOUR. NAME! >_ With each word he spoke, he sliced another wound into the Andalite’s chest.

But our Andalite didn’t budge. He squared his shoulders and puffed out his bleeding chest. For a moment, I thought he was going to speak. I could imagine him saying something profound and inspiring, like “I won’t give up!” or “I don’t answer to monsters like you!”. I was wrong.

_Fwhapp!_

The Andalite struck with his tail! Visser Three dodged, but only just; the blade caught the side of his face, cutting a line that stretched from just below his eye all the way down to his chin.

Visser Three howled in agony, and a pair of Hork-Bajir rushed forward, grabbing our Andalite by the arms and forcing him to the ground.

_Fwhapp! Fwhapp!_

Visser Three struck twice in rapid succession. I gasped as I watched the Hork-Bajirs’ heads’ separate from their bodies and drop to the ground.

<Insolent fools!> screeched Visser Three, <Did I give you permission to touch _my_ prey?! >

Two of those centipede aliens scurried forward, dragging the Hork-Bajirs’ bodies through the dirt until they were back behind Visser Three. Then the rest of them jumped in, ripping apart the Hork-Bajirs’ still-bleeding corpses and devouring them. I thought I was going to throw up.

The Andalite rose to his feet again, undeterred by the carnage going on in front of him. The two Andalites stared each other down for a long moment, then Visser Three let out a “hmph” sound. He shook the tip his tail to flick away the remaining droplets of blood.

<Fine. I don’t need to hear your name. My friend up here,> he tapped the side of his head, <Knows who you are anyway. Do you have any last words, Andalite Warrior Mahad-Majcius-Noirric?>

Our Andalite—Mahad—tilted his chin up in defiance.

<This isn’t over, Yeerk,> he spat.

Visser Three laughed. It was a sound that made me feel nauseous. <Brave words coming from someone whose entire squadron was decimated.>

<There will be others.>

<Oh, yes, but they won’t be here in time to save this planet,> said Visser Three, sounding bored, <I’m almost tempted to leave you alive so you can watch the human race crash and burn. But that wouldn’t do. It’s generally frowned upon to leave an enemy alive, you see. So don’t worry, I’ll send you to meet your Andalite friends soon. Oh, and your little prince too, of course.>

Suddenly enraged, Mahad swung his tail forward, but Visser Three was quicker: he ducked out of the way and swept his tail downward, knocking Mahad’s feet out from under him and sending him sprawling to the ground. Visser Three raised one of his front legs and brought his hoof crashing down right between Mahad’s shoulder blades.

<You should thank me,> said Visser Three, <Isn’t it some kind of dishonor to die after your prince? Or was it to die without avenging your prince? No matter. I care not about your stupid Andalite rituals. Your prince is dead, and so are you.>

And then Visser Three began to change. He began to glow dark orange, the colour of embers at the bottom of a fire. His fur melted away, his skin becoming huge, dark rock-like scales the size of dinner plates that covered his whole body. He backed away from Mahad and turned his stalk eyes to the troops lined up behind him, keeping his main eyes focused on the fallen Andalite.

<You!> he said, pointing at a Hork-Bajir with his tail, <Hold him while I morph. Make sure he does not escape.>

The Hork-Bajir nodded and stepped carefully around Visser Three, as though getting any closer would hurt him. It dragged Mahad to his feet, its wrist blades at his throat.

Visser Three continued to morph. He grew larger, until he was twice or three times the height of a grown man. His back legs grew wider until they were as thick as tree trunks, and his front legs shrunk until they disappeared into his body. His tail and stalk eyes shriveled up and vanished, and glistening knifelike teeth sprouted from the mouth that appeared in the middle of his crackling face. His eyes turned blue, becoming bigger and rounder. Magma poured out from between the cracks between the stonelike scales, and he let out a terrifying roar that made all of us cover our ears.

<Farewell, Andalite Warrior Mahad!> said Visser Three gleefully, <Say hello to your little prince for me in the afterlife!>

He leaned down over the Andalite, raising one of his gigantic hands. Oozing lava dripped from fingers the size of baby dolphins. I squeezed my eyes shut. It didn’t do anything to dull the screams of pain that exploded in my head.

_Boom!_

I opened my eyes. Visser Three had one massive palm flat against the ground. I could see an Andalite tail poking out from between two of his fingers. There was no sign of the Hork-Bajir that had been holding him.

Visser Three laughed again, sending a wave of nausea rolling through my body. He drew himself to his full height. Beneath his hand lay a dark mass of charred flesh.

<Taxxons!> he called out, <Clean up this mess. I don’t want a single trace left behind. Enjoy your meal.>

He was hardly finished speaking when the centipede aliens—the Taxxons—scuttled forward and began to fight over the scorched remains of our Andalite. We couldn’t do anything but watch as what was left of his body was torn apart, some of it burned so thoroughly that it crumbled to ashes. I could hear Yuugi quietly sobbing a few feet away, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katsuya put his arm around Yuugi’s shoulders and pull him close.

After what felt like an eternity, the Taxxons backed away, and Visser Three returned to his Andalite body. They piled back into their ships, and, as quickly as they’d arrived, they were gone.

The park was quiet. I could hear crickets chirping in the tall grass behind us. A long way off, all the way on the other side of the park, a fire truck went by, sirens blaring. My mind felt disconnected from my body, like I was outside looking in, as though I was watching a movie. The stinging scrapes on my knees and the lingering stench of burned skin and fur reminded me that I wasn’t. Nobody spoke much on the way back to the train station. We parted ways without even saying goodbye. When I got home, I dropped right into bed without changing my clothes and stared up at the ceiling. 

I didn’t sleep that night. I don’t think any of us did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, my Pals , the adventure has started for real and we're gonna get some morphing action from the kids real soon. sorry it took so long to post this, i write two chapters ahead of where i am so i can go back and make changes, and i was struggling with chapter five (finished it this morning though. yay!)
> 
> sorry for mahads andalite name i couldnt think of anything cool, maybe if i think of something better later i'll go back and change it
> 
> thanks for reading!


	4. The Message: Hiroto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive never written anything about honda so i was really nervous about getting his characterization all wrong, but i think this turned out well! i had so much fun writing this chapter omg

My name is Hiroto, and I'd just woken up from the worst nightmare I'd ever had. I dreamed that the lake in the park where I bring my dog Blankey had been drained until it was just a huge, empty pit in the ground. My friends and I had gone down there, where we encountered a dying alien who told us about how the human race was doomed, and that we were the only ones who could save it. Then we watched the dying alien get burned alive by another alien and saw his body get eaten by gigantic, vicious bugs. I heard the alien’s screams of pain as he died, felt his fear and anger and sadness as he stared death right in the eye until his final moment. Yeah. What a nightmare.

Yes. That’s all it was. A nightmare. None of it was real. _None of it was real._ That’s what I’d been telling myself all morning. If, by “all morning”, you meant since 2AM, after getting about five hours of fitful, restless sleep.

“It was a dream,” I told myself firmly, “A dream.”

A vivid image of that horrible lava beast crushing the dying alien under its blistering, monstrous hand flashed in my mind. The centipede aliens tearing his scorched corpse apart until there was nothing left.

I rolled over, burying my face in my pillow.

When I woke up again, I didn’t feel any more rested. In fact, I was somehow even _more_ tired. I checked my phone. It was almost two in the afternoon. I also had five unread text messages and three missed calls.

“Urgh.”

I snapped my phone shut and stuffed it under my pillow, then left my room to go downstairs. The house was quiet. I guess my family was out. My German Shepherd Blankey was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, wagging her tail.

“Hey Blankey,” I said, leaning over to scratch behind her ears, “What’re you up to? Stayin’ out of trouble?”

She licked my hand, then turned around and scampered into the kitchen to sit by her empty food dish. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, I see. You only love me when you’re hungry.”

Blankey whined, and I pat her head, unable to keep myself from smiling.

“Fine, fine. Let’s get you some lunch.”

I picked up her steel bowl and made my way over to the kitchen cabinet where we keep the dog food. There was a note taped to the handle. It was from my sister, saying that she’d taken my nephew out for the day. I’d have the house all to myself. I opened the cabinet and scooped some kibble into Blankey’s bowl, then set it back down. I sat on the floor next to her, running my fingers through the coarse fur on her back while she ate.

_As in, change your bodies to take on the shape of other species. Any animal. All you need to do is touch them to acquire their DNA._

I withdrew my hand. Blankey finished eating and turned to look at me. She tilted her head, one of her ears flopping over. I smiled again, though it was a little more forced this time, then scooted closer and grabbed her face in my hands.

“Aliens don’t exist, Blankey,” I told her. 

Blankey responded by drooling on me. 

* * *

 

The rest of the day wasn’t terribly productive. I lounged around the house, watching TV, playing video games, listening to music… but I wasn’t really feeling it, y’know? The sandwich I made myself for lunch didn’t taste like anything. Blankey tried to get me to play tug-of-war with her favorite squeaky chicken toy, but I just couldn’t get into it. She made an unimpressed snorting noise at me and trotted away to lie on her dog bed and slobber all over the rubber chicken’s face. I heard my cell phone ring a few times upstairs in my room, but I ignored it.

At around four in the afternoon, Blankey rushed toward the door and started barking. I frowned, sitting up to watch her from where’d I’d been lying on the couch. She always ran to the door when someone was coming home, but my family had trained her to not start barking at anyone who walked up to our front door when she was still a puppy.

“Blankey, relax,” I said, hauling myself off the couch. I started to head toward the door to see what she was fussing about, but when I was almost there, I heard my cell phone ringing again. I wanted to ignore it, but I guess part of me was worried that it could be an emergency. I sighed, turning on my heel to run upstairs and grab my phone. It stopped ringing by the time I made it to my room, but I flipped it open anyway.

Four missed calls from Katsuya, three from Anzu, and one from Ryuuji. The text messages were from them as well, ranging from concern to annoyance. I skimmed through the ones that Katsuya sent me. The most recent one was sent at 3:58PM. It read: _[hey man r u home???]_ I checked the time. 4PM, on the dot.

“Damn it,” I said. No sooner did the words leave my mouth did my phone vibrate again. I looked at the new message.

> **_4:00PM_ ** _[open ur goddamn door u loser i know ur home]_

I sighed deeply, then went back downstairs to the front door. Blankey was still standing in front of it, scratching at the wood below the doorknob. I opened to door and was greeted with my best friend’s very grumpy face

“ _Finally_ ,” Katsuya grumbled, “We’ve been standing here for like ten minutes. The hell are you doing in there?”

I’ve known Katsuya since I was six years old. We met during P.E on my first day of elementary school. Me and a bunch of guys in my class were all showing off to each other by seeing who could kick the soccer ball into the goal from halfway across the field. When it was my turn, my foot hit the ball at a weird angle and the ball went soaring sideways over to the bleachers, where it smacked Katsuya square in the face. Then, in a fit of first-grader rage, he got up, picked up the ball, screamed, and drop kicked it with _astounding_ precision. It came flying back at me and hit me right in the nose. I staggered back and fell over, and he pointed at me, made the most ridiculous face I have ever seen, and yelled, with blood pouring down his face, “THE GREAT KATSUYA-SAMA MAKES A COMEBACK!”

Then we both got sent to the nurse’s office, where we bonded over who could snort out the cotton balls shoved up our nostrils the furthest. By the time we were back in class, we were best friends. We have been for about ten years now. We knew each other better than we knew ourselves. And I knew that he was an impatient guy who didn’t like to be ignored or kept waiting.

Both of which I had done to him in the past six hours.

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I couldn’t meet his eyes, “I’ve… I’ve been having kind of an off day.”

His expression softened. “Yeah, me too,” he said quietly. He reached over and gave me a friendly punch in the shoulder, “You gonna let us in, or what?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah.” I blinked, stepping back and opening the door wider. Then I frowned. “Wait. “us”? Who’s “us”?”

Katsuya grinned, and before he could even explain, I found out what had made Blankey start barking. 

Another dog stood at Katsuya’s heels. It was smaller than Blankey, with thick orange and white fur and a fluffy tail that curled in on itself. It looked up at me with gleaming brown eyes, tongue lolling out of its mouth, then squeezed past me into my house.

Katsuya followed it in and I closed the door, staring after him and the dog as they made themselves comfortable in my living room.

“Where the hell did you pick up a purebred shiba inu?” I asked Katsuya, watching Blankey rush forward to meet this new dog, “Is he a stray?”

Katsuya dropped a pair of backpacks on couch and draped a very small black leather vest over the armrest. “Not exactly,” he said. He looked around at the empty living room. “Is anyone else home?”

“No,” I said, unable to take my eyes off the shiba as it wandered over to the TV and started nosing through my movie collection, “My parents are working, and my sis took her kid to the water park—what’s your dog doing?”

The dog was standing in front of the television, up on its hind legs with its paws up on the TV stand. It stared straight ahead for a second, then tilted its face up a little, so that its snout bumped against the power button on the underside of the screen. The TV shut off. My jaw dropped. The dog turned to look at me, paws still up on furniture. It stuck its tongue out again and wagged its tail.

“Katsuya…” I said slowly, “Why do you have two backpacks?”

“The extra one is Yuugi’s,” he replied, the grin on his face growing even wider, “He asked me to hang onto it. It’s a little heavy for him right now.”

“And where is Yuugi, exactly?” I asked. I had a sinking feeling I already knew the answer.

The shiba turned away from the TV stand and padded over to me, sitting down at my feet. It looked up into my eyes like no real dog ever would.

<Hi, Hiroto-kun,> it said.

* * *

I sat down very hard. Okay, fine, my legs gave out and I landed on my butt. Right on the hardwood floor. The shiba tilted its head, ears turning back a little. It let out a low whine. 

<Oh gosh, I’m sorry,> said the shiba in a voice that sounded exactly like Yuugi’s. I didn’t hear him speak out loud, but I heard his voice echo in my head, <I didn’t mean to startle you!>

I couldn’t speak. My mouth opened but I was unable to make a sound.

The shiba whipped its head toward Katsuya, who was doubled over on the couch laughing his ass off. <It’s not funny, Katsuya-kun!> he whined, <He’s seriously freaking out!>

“How… how…?” I managed to choke out.

From over on her dog bed, Blankey sensed my distress lifted her head. She growled, but didn’t move.

<I’ll demorph,> said the shiba, turning toward me again, <But you should put your dog outside, or in another room. I don’t want her to panic.>

Shakily, I rose to my feet and whistled for Blankey. She trotted over and I let her out into the backyard, then I yanked the blinds shut before turning back to Katsuya and the shiba.

No way, I thought to myself, there is _no way_ that Yuugi turned into a dog.

<Maybe he shouldn’t be here while I demorph,> said the dog, glancing over to Katsuya, <He’s pretty shaken.>

But Katsuya shook his head. “No,” he said, “He has to see this. He’s stubborn, he won’t believe any of the stuff that happened last night was real until we show him proof. Go ahead, Yuugi. Your time’s almost up anyway.”

The dog let out a very human-like sigh, then closed its eyes. For a few seconds, nothing happened. I expected Yuugi to leap out from behind the couch, scoop the dog into his arms, and tell me it had been a joke. 

Then the changes began.

The ears were first. Let me tell you something, it is _freaky_ to see human ears on a dog. Its fur receded next, until it was a lumpy, hairless, vaguely dog-shaped creature. The bones in its tail were sucked right back into its body, and the skin just...flopped down and smacked the ground. I could hear a faint cracking and snapping sound, and my stomach lurched when I realized that it was the sound of the dog’s bones moving around, growing, and changing directions in order to form a human skeleton. The dog’s snout flattened into its skull and Yuugi’s spiky, odd-coloured hair sprouted from the top of its head. When the changes were almost done, Katsuya unzipped Yuugi’s backpack and dropped a bundle of clothes on the ground in front of the creature that was now more Yuugi than dog.

“Haven’t figured out how to morph into clothes yet,” Katsuya explained.

I turned around and waited for Yuugi to put his clothes on.

“Darn it, we forgot to bring my shoes,” said Yuugi’s voice. It was a relief to hear him speak out loud and not in my head.

I turned back around to see Yuugi standing in the middle of my living room. He walked over to the couch and slid his leather vest on, then sat down.

“Wow,” he said, sniffing loudly, “Humans have a really crappy sense of smell. It’s nice to have my thumbs back, though.”

“How the hell did you do that?” I asked weakly, leaning against the armrest.

Yuugi shrugged. He stared down at the floor. “I just… morphed. I did what Mahad told us to do. Y’know. The Andalite?”

Yuugi got real quiet all of a sudden. I knew that the morbid scene of the alien’s death—no, his _murder_ —was replaying in his mind. Katsuya picked up the slack and explained more thoroughly.

“Anzu had dance practice today so she had to leave right when class ended, and Yuugi and I had nothing better to do so we went back to his grandpa’s shop,” he said, “There were some people playing duel monsters and CFV but neither of us really felt like joining in. Then some guy came in with his dog and you know how Yuugi is with dogs, he went over to say hi and started petting it. Then…”

He trailed off. Yuugi shrugged, still looking down at the ground. “I was thinking about what Mahad said, how we can turn into any animal we touch. But I thought, it can’t be that simple. So I really focused, thought about what it would be like to be a dog, and when I did, the dog kinda just… spaced out? I felt this tingling in my fingers where I was touching its fur, and after about twenty seconds it stopped and the dog was back to normal.”

“And…?” I asked.

“And it worked,” said Katsuya, “We went up to Yuugi’s room and and he tried morphing into the dog. It, hahah, it was super freaky.”

“Katsuya-kun almost barfed,” said Yuugi, a smile working its way onto his face for the first time since he’d gotten here.

“I did _not_!”

“Yes you did! When my tail—”

“Oh god, don’t remind me.”

Yuugi laughed, then turned to meet my confused gaze. Katsuya covered his ears. “The bones in my tail popped out before the skin and fur did. It was super gross.”

I shuddered. “Oh man, that’s _nasty_.”

Katsuya nodded, letting his hands drop back into his lap. “Morphing’s cool, but it’s sure ain’t pretty.” He paused. “I mean… I haven’t done it myself yet, but…”

He looked over to Yuugi, whose face lit up. “It’s amazing,” he said, clasping his hands together, “The dog’s sense of smell… it’s just so _cool_ , and the dog’s brain is so carefree, and—”

“Wait, hold up,” I said, “The dog’s _brain_?”

Yuugi and Katsuya looked at each other. “It’s like…” Yuugi made a vague gesture with his hands, “Like its mind is there with you. It’s not like, a conscious being, I can’t hear any thoughts from it, but its instincts are all there. It kinda showed me what to do.” He smiled apologetically. “Sorry, it’s hard to explain, you’ll understand when you try it.”

I blinked. My stomach felt like it dropped to my feet. “When I _what_?”

Katsuya put his hand on my shoulder. “You’d better go get Blankey,” he said with a grin.

* * *

“So, uh…” I started, looking between Yuugi and Katsuya. The three of us were sitting outside in my backyard with Blankey, who was chowing down on some particularly long blades of grass. “How… exactly do I do this?”

“Just pet her,” said Yuugi. He tapped his thigh with the palm of his hand. The sound caught Blankey’s attention and she came trotting over. She licked Yuugi’s face and he started giggling. “Blankey no, that tickles—just pet her and think about being a dog.”

I scowled. It was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. Still, I scooted forward and pried Blankey off Yuugi, who was laughing harder now and falling backwards under the dog’s weight.

“Get off him, ya big doof,” I told her softly, gently pulling her toward me. She wagged her tail, pleased at all the attention she was getting. I scratched behind her ears and tried to do what Yuugi told me. Tried thinking about what it would be like to be a dog.

Nothing. I glanced sideways at Katsuya. He shrugged at me.

“Close your eyes, maybe?” Yuugi offered, “Try picturing Blankey in your mind.”

I almost laughed, but I managed to keep it in. I closed my eyes and pictured my dog, which wasn’t particularly difficult, considering she was standing _right in front of me_. I was easily able to imagine her brown and black fur, her pointy ears that flopped forward sometimes. This whole thing was so _dumb_ , there was no _way_ —

A sudden tingling in my fingertips almost made me pull my hand back. I cracked one eye open and inhaled sharply. Blankey had stopped moving and was staring straight ahead. Not _at_ me but _through_ me. Like I wasn’t even there. And then it was over, and Blankey returned to her excitable, slobbery self. She sniffed my face, and when she realized I wasn’t gonna pet her, she backed away and went to see Katsuya instead.

“Okay, I think it worked,” said Yuugi, wiping the dog drool off his face with the back of his hand, “Let’s go back inside and try it.”

Katsuya nodded, giving Blankey one last pat on the head before leading the way back to the sliding glass door. We left Blankey outside and went upstairs to my room. Yuugi locked the door behind us.

“Don’t want anyone walking in and seeing a half-dog, half-person nightmare,” he explained. He sat down on the edge of my bed, “Okay, now do the same thing you were doing before. Think about being a dog, Blankey specifically.”

I started to close my eyes, but before I could, Katsuya let out a cough.

“...Yeah?”

“Might wanna take your sweatpants off, dude. You’re gonna get tangled in them and freak out. Shirt, too.”

About thirty seconds later, I stood in the middle of my room in nothing but my boxers, with both Katsuya and Yuugi staring at me. Talk about awkward.

“Go ahead,” said Yuugi.

“Sure, I guess,” I replied. I closed my eyes and pictured Blankey in my mind again. But nothing happened. I didn’t feel any different. My arm was itchy. I scratched it.

“Hahah, holy crap,” came Katsuya’s voice.

“What is it?” I started to say. Except it came out more like “wharrr arr rrr?”

My eyes flew open. I looked down at my arms. Brown and black fur was sprouting where I’d been itchy. I turned my head toward the mirror hanging over my dresser. Big mistake.

I almost screamed when I saw my reflection: I had scruffy brown fur around my neck, and my mouth had started to puff out. When I opened my mouth, I saw that my teeth had grown sharper, gums darkening like those of a dog. _Go back!_ I screamed in my mind, _Go back!_

I guess the changes started to reverse themselves, because Katsuya and Yuugi stood up. 

“No, keep going,” said Katsuya, “You’re almost halfway there, don’t be a wuss!”

I think I growled at him because he backed away. But Yuugi didn’t budge.

“I know it’s scary,” he said calmly, “And really, really weird. But it doesn’t hurt, I swear. I was scared the first time too. But I’m right here with you, Hiroto-kun. I’ll start morphing too. I’ll do it with you, if you want.”

I nodded. Yuugi smiled at me, and after a few seconds, he started changing too. He shrank until he was so short that he left my line of sight.

“Everything’s okay, Hiroto-kun,” said his voice a few feet below me, “Your turn now. Think about Blankey again.”

I closed my eyes. The itchiness on my arms started to spread to the rest of my skin. My mouth continued to push outward until it was a dog’s muzzle. I could feel my bones moving around, but it didn’t hurt at all, even though it definitely sounded like it should. All of a sudden I felt really wobbly on my legs and I fell forward, unable to stay upright. I landed on my hands. Only they weren’t hands anymore. They were paws, fur a light brown, with blunt dog claws at the tip of each toe. I felt something move behind me. A tail! _My_ tail! I turned my head around to look at it, and right when I did, my vision blurred. Colours dulled and melted together into fewer hues. It should’ve freaked me out. But suddenly, I was really, _really_ happy!

I looked around and saw a person. Was it Katsuya? Probably! But who cares? I saw someone far more interesting. A dog! Another dog! Smaller! I leaned forward and sniffed her. I could tell _exactly_ where she’d been. She’d passed a bakery on the way here! I could even tell what _her_ house smelled like! But wait, we were in _my_ house! What was she doing in _my_ house?! Mine! Mine! Mine!

“Hiroto, you idiot, stop barking!”

My house! Mine! Mine!

<Hiroto-kun, you have to control the dog’s instincts, I know it’s overwhelming, but—>

Mine! Mine! Mine!

I pulled my lips back and bared my teeth.

<Katsuya-kun, open the door!>

Fresh air came in from the hallway. The other dog bolted out. I could hear her paws thumping against the carpeted steps as she went down the stairs. I moved to follow her, but the door closed. I pawed at it.

“Oh, for the love of…” The person crouched down and put a hand on my head. “No! Bad dog!”

The words felt like a slap in the face. I was aghast! Bad dog? _Me_? My ears flattened against my head. I whined.

“Hiroto, get a grip!”

I lifted my head. My peripheral vision was fuzzy, but I could see a face. A familiar face. I turned my head a little. It was Katsuya. Standing in front of my door. My bedroom door. Alone. Where was Yuugi? Wasn’t Yuugi here too?

Wait. Yuugi. Shiba. Dog in my house. I made the connection. It was like someone dumped a bucket of ice cold water on my head. I scrambled backwards. My claws made horrible scratching noises against the wooden floor.

<Whoa! Whoa!>

“You good now? Can I trust you to not, I dunno, bite Yuugi’s head off?”

I sat down. Blinked a bunch of times. I tried to ask what happened, by all that came out of my dog mouth was grumbling, almost-barking sounds.

“Dogs can’t talk, genius,” came Katsuya’s voice, “You gotta use that thought-speak thing. Direct your thoughts to me. Well, that’s how Yuugi explained it, at least.”

I took a deep breath through my nose, then looked at Katsuya. <What happened?>

It worked! Katsuya heard me. “The dog mind took over,” he said, “It happened to Yuugi the first time, too. It took me like fifteen minutes to get him to stop chewing on my shoe. But it looks like you’ve got it under control now.”

He opened the door a crack. I didn’t move.

“He’s good now, Yuugi! We’ll be right down.” Katsuya called down. A little voice in the back of my mind was very happy to hear the word “good”. It made me feel better too. Katsuya pushed the door open and I scooted out behind him. When we got downstairs, we found Yuugi standing in front of Blankey’s dog bed, pawing at one of her toys. The squeaky rubber chicken. My favorite—I mean, Blankey’s favorite. Yuugi’s ears turned toward the sound of our footsteps, and he looked up, backing away from the toy sheepishly.

<Everything cool?> Yuugi asked.

I nodded. It probably looked really weird to see a German Shepherd nodding its head like a human would.

<Good!> Yuugi wagged his tail. I guess the dog mind still had a little influence on him. His tongue rolled out of his mouth. <Isn’t it amazing, Hiroto-kun? All the smells?>

My tail started wagging too. <Hell yeah!> I replied, <It’s… it’s _incredible_! I can smell your grandpa’s card shop on you! I can smell individual people, and how long ago they were near you! And—and, I can tell that… you’re—the dog whose body you’re in—is female? >

Yuugi nodded his shiba head. Yep, definitely weird. <I guess the dog I acquired was female. It’s amazing, huh? I had no idea how sensitive a dog’s nose is! Like, on the way here, I could smell—>

All of a sudden, a jingling sound. Yuugi and I heard it first, and we whipped our heads toward it. It was coming from the front door.

<Keys!> I yelled. <Someone’s coming home!>

Katsuya put one of his hands to his chest. “Holy smokes, Hiroto, don’t scare me like that, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

Then Yuugi realized what I was thinking <But, Katsuya-kun—>

“Relax,” he said, “It’s just Hiroto’s family. They see me all the time. Blankey _lives_ here, and they’re gonna assume that you’re my dog.”

<But the real Blankey is outside!> Yuugi protested, <What’re they gonna think when they see _two_ Blankeys?! >

None of us said a word. Katsuya’s mouth was hanging open. The key turned in the keyhole and the doorknob turned.

“Go upstairs!” hissed Katsuya, “Upstairs! Demorph!”

We didn’t need to be told twice. Yuugi and I raced up the stairs. I bashed my face on the first step though; I wasn’t used to running on four legs. I let out a sigh of relief when we reached my bedroom. Katsuya had left the door open when we’d come downstairs. We dashed inside, then Yuugi kicked the door shut behind him with one of his hind legs.

<Okay, let’s morph out,> Yuugi instructed, <Just think about being you again. The _real_ you. >

I closed my eyes and did as he said. Thankfully, morphing back to human went a lot more smoothly than morphing to dog. Right before my dog senses faded, I heard Katsuya talking to someone downstairs, telling them that I was up in my room. I heard another voice that I quickly identified as my sister’s say “oh, okay”, and then the sound faded. I looked down at my hands. I was human again. A very naked human. I pulled my clothes back on and went downstairs, Yuugi right behind me.

“Oh, Yuugi-kun’s here too!” said my sister, shifting my four-year-old nephew from one hip to the other, “I didn’t see your shoes by the door.”

Yuugi laughed loudly. “I, um, forgot them!”

She blinked at him. “You… forgot your shoes?”

I exchanged a look with Katsuya. Yuugi was a _terrible_ liar. I leaped in and saved him, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Hahah! Yeah! We went to the beach, y’know, like last year, and Yuugi was so spaced out he left his shoes there!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yuugi flinch when I mentioned the beach. I shrugged it off. I had bigger fish to fry.

“Oh,” said my sister. She lowered my nephew to the ground. He hobbled over to the couch and pulled himself onto it. “Well, lend him a pair when he goes home, Hiroto. I don’t want him stepping on something sharp, y’know.”

“Yeah, of course!” I said. “We were, uh, just on our way out now! See ya later, sis!”

I jerked my head toward the door and dragged Yuugi out by his arm. I gave him a pair of my old sandals. They were huge on him, but there was nothing else we could do. When we put a decent amount of distance between us and the house, we stopped.

“Okay,” said Yuugi, “That was a close one. Next time we do this, we have to be _a lot_ more careful.”

“Yeah, _if_ we ever do this again,” I said. 

The dog’s carefree happiness made me forget how scary all this morphing stuff was, but now that I was back to being human, I felt the stress pile on again.

“Look, this is _really_ dangerous,” I told them, “And I still stand by what I said back at the lake. This is… This is way too big for us. We’re just a bunch of kids. What if my sister had been—” I looked around and lowered my voice, “What if my sister had been one of _them_? A Controller. What if she’d seen us? We’d be _dead_ , just like the Andalite.”

My friends didn’t say a word. Good. That meant I was winning.

“It’s cool that we have these powers and all,” I went on, “And I’m not gonna pretend what we saw last night wasn’t real, but what are we supposed to do about it? This is _so_ over our heads.”

Katsuya turned away, chewing on his lower lip. He was angry at me for being such a coward, but he also knew that I was right: we were barely stealthy enough to avoid getting caught by my sister! How could we stand up to an _entire army_ of aliens?

Yuugi looked up. “We should meet with the others. Everyone who was there with us,” he shot Katsuya a stern glance when it looked like he would argue, “Yes, Katsuya-kun, even Seto-kun. We’ll talk it over together. _Then_ we’ll decide what to do.”

I agreed to that. As long as we were just talking, I thought, we should be fine. I figured none of us were crazy enough to agree to wage war against the Yeerks with the odds we had.

I soon found out otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a whole lot of fun writing honda as a dog, so i hope you enjoyed reading it!! im currently working on chapter 7 and i have it more or less planned out from start to finish, so it shouldnt be long until chapter 5 is up. chapter 5 is when Shit Gets Real so i hope you'll look forward to it B)
> 
> in other news, ive just started reading the ygo manga and im falling in love w/ these kids all over again. yuugis smile kills me every Damned time someone help


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